DBZ: Heroes of Humanity
by gotrixisgreat99
Summary: AU: The humans were always made out to be weak in DBZ, this is their chance to truly shine and alter the DBZ universe the way they should have.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: The amazing franchise that is Dragon Ball is in no way owned by me, any characters, themes and plot elements from the franchise is the property of Toei and the brilliant Akira Toriyama. In regards any future OC's or concepts I develop they are not technically my property however I respectfully request that if anyone wishes to use them they either ask permission or give me a mention in their authors notes.

Chapter 1: A Villain Emerges.

It's been five years since the climatic defeat of the evil Piccolo at the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament and the world is at peace. However, the heroes of Earth have not been idle in this time of peace, each has been training relentlessly to protect the innocent should Piccolo return from his self-imposed exile and seek vengeance and also to secretly to one day surpass the Earth's greatest hero; Goku. Little did they know that the results of their training would very soon be put to the test to an extent beyond anything they could have ever imagined.

"_One day soon I'll be able to face that damn fool Goku and get revenge for my humiliation at his hands and avenge my father. I grow stronger everyday and I can sense Goku hasn't been training as much as he used to, overconfident fool," _Piccolo thought whilst meditating.

Suddenly his concentration was broken by the interruption of a rapidly approaching energy level; it didn't belong to any of those pathetic humans Goku spent time with. No, he'd fought with them multiple times to train himself, by making faked revenge attempts that they always thought they'd foiled. This was unlike any he'd felt before, its magnitude made him unconsciously flinch in trepidation. He cautiously flew towards the area it was navigating towards.

"This should be a good test of my new abilities before I face Goku." Piccolo laughed to himself, not so much out of confidence but more out of self-reassurance. After all even if he was not quite as strong as Goku yet, surely he was stronger than anyone else on Earth, visitors included?

After a short flight he came to an open field area where an impact crater of roughly eight meters in diameter was to beheld, the thing that caught his attention however was not the crater but the strange, spherical craft that had made it which lay open in the middle of the crater. Hastily searching for the ki of the individual from the craft he failed to notice the shadow that was covering him until the figure that cast it spoke.

"Well, what do we have here? I thought the people of Earth were Saiyan in appearance, obviously your some horrifically weak mutant," smirked the tall, muscular and wild haired stranger.

Whipping around to meet this menacing voice Piccolo nearly gaped in disbelief at the mystery visitor's appearance. He was like an older, more muscular version of Goku aside from the hair which instead of being palm tree-like was bushy, jutting out and in long enough to reach the back of his knees.

Quickly recovering Piccolo snarled a response with as much confidence and arrogance possible, "I am no pathetic human or mutant, I am the son of the great Demon Lord, King Piccolo, and I'd be more respectful if I were you. I'm in no mood to suffer fools, particularly one resembling Goku so much." Inwardly though he suppressed his power level ensuring he retained his element of surprise if it came to a fight.

"Look I couldn't give a crap who you're related to, Namekian , how you got here or what a 'Goku' is. All I want to know is where Kakarott resides, if you tell me I'll spare you and the majority of planet. After all I don't enjoy killing when it's unnecessary but make no mistake, I will kill you if you're un-cooperative," Raditz drawled in complete boredom and exasperation. _'This green freak is starting to bug me,'_ he inwardly thought.

Suddenly a realisation struck Piccolo; this alien was somehow Goku's brother! The resemblance was too much and the energy signature was too similar for any other possibility…

'_If he's close to Goku's power I'll need to prevent him from teaming up with Goku against me, I may have to fall back on my ultimate response, I wonder why he called me a Namekian?' _Piccolo pondered as he considered his response. "Your brother is the one known as Goku, you're very alike and Goku's origin is shrouded in mystery. I suspect then that he and you are of another species, it explains your strength and Goku's unnatural healing ability and power gains from injury," Piccolo calmly stated, all the while concentrating his Ki just close to the surface of detection in order to fight at his limits immediately.

"Well if what you say is true I have no idea why my brother is known as 'Goku', or why he hasn't killed everyone on this planet… Well it's pleasant enough, if his pod was damaged he may have decided to wait until adulthood to carve a planetary empire independent of the Planet Trade Organisation, if so I'm rather pleased with his levels intelligence, mentality and overall taste," Raditz replied whilst adjusting the head device he was wearing.

Piccolo laughed thunderously in response.

"What's funny, slug?" snapped Raditz.

"Goku is no emperor, he's an out and out hero, disgusting if you ask me but it's the truth. Oh, and his intelligence is lacking, despite his skill in regards to fighting," Piccolo replied, still chuckling.

"Ok, Mr. Green, I've had enough, bring me to him or die!" roared Raditz, enraged by the insult Piccolo was giving Kakarott and by extension their bloodline.

"Go to hell, I take orders from no-one, Goku's redneck space brother included," replied Piccolo whilst slipping into a defensive fighting stance.

Enraged, Raditz used his scouter to scan Piccolo's power level and the weak beep and subsequent readout he received back made him cry out in laughter. "Your power level is only 200! You're not even a sixth of my strength and you seriously hope to defeat me? Well if you're confident you can get a shot in for free," smirked Raditz, lowering his guard completely.

Piccolo without acknowledging the offer rushed in immediately and threw a right handed, sideways chop at the sensitive point of Raditz's neck. His blow whilst only less than half of his true power, did little more than move Raditz's head. Perturbed, Piccolo flipped away and raised his guard, wary of retaliation.

Raditz merely slowly moved his head back to its original position, grinning like a true sadist. "If that is the best you've got then I'm sorry for you," Raditz calmly stated. In an instant he'd moved from his position to appear behind Piccolo, who lunged to the right to avoid what he felt certain would be a sneak attack. Raditz however was still and laughing.

"You can't even keep up with my movements, how are going to fight me?" Raditz asked, secretly hoping Piccolo would abandon the fight, he'd had enough senseless death in his lifetime.

Piccolo's reply was simple, "I'll stop playing around." Powering up in the space of a few seconds a white aura surrounded Piccolo's tensed form. "_Shit, he can raise his power whenever he wants! This is a problem,"_ Raditz thought. "_If Kakarott can do this there's a chance he could be a match for me, if he decides to stay here and not join me." _Checking the scuter he was amazed but unworried that it now displayed Piccolo as having a power level of 472.

Rushing in Piccolo punched Raditz in the jaw and kneed him in the chest, whilst unhurt Raditz was winded and momentarily defenceless. Piccolo grinned ferally at this and continued his onslaught, punching and kicking Raditz at every angle trying to cause at least some damage.

"D_amn, all I've managed to do is bruise him occasionally, I'll need to push harder if I'm to have any ho…" _before Piccolo could finish his thought Raditz roared his frustration out and kicked Piccolo squarely in the solar plexus. He followed this up with an arm grab and threw Piccolo into the hillside.

"T_hat actually hurt!_" Raditz fumed. "_He's a third of my power but it hurt. I can't waste time on him anymore," _Raditz thought. By sheer luck his scouter detected another power level of 203, far stronger than any other reading bar Piccolo.

"It's been fun, freak, but I have a family reunion to attend!" Raditz shouted at the injured and struggling to stand Piccolo. "Don't follow me or I will have to kill you," Raditz added with a hint of sadness in his voice. He took to the skies and sped off toward Mt. Paozu.

Meanwhile at a mountain cabin area, Yamcha and Krillin were training with the ex-villains Tien and Chaoutzu, until they felt two very large power levels in the distance. They'd been tempted to go and investigate but reasoned that if it was Goku and Piccolo fighting, Goku would have sent Gohan to get back up. Now however, with one of the power levels approaching the general direction of Kame house they realised the scale of the power level and that it most certainly wasn't Goku.

"Shit, he's getting close and his ki signature is immense!" Yamcha exclaimed somewhat anxiously.

"He's strong but the four of us together could beat him," Tien coolly observed.

"He's heading to Kame House!" Chaotzu squeaked apprehensively.

"Yeah he is, how ironic is it that I was there only a few hours ago? You guys up for being Goku's cavalry again?" Krillin determinedly grinned. The reply he received was a collective nod and everyone took off to aid the man they all owed so much to.

At Kame House there was a small child of no more than four hanging off a man's shoulders giggling. He was dressed in a green and yellow traditional outfit with a hat that had a small, orange ball sewn into the top.

The man was Goku and he was laughing as he picked the child up and positioned him on his back.

"Gohan, you wanna play aeroplanes?" Goku beamed, fully enjoying his rare day off of training.

"Yes please Daddy," was the excited response from Gohan.

"Ok here we go..." Goku started before he felt something in the back of his mind "Gohan, get off me now and hide with Bulma, a huge power is heading this way," Goku said as he tensed and turned towards the power's direction. Stood up straight Goku was around 5 foot 8 inches and very muscular, particularly for his relatively young age.

"Ok Dad," was Gohan's scared reply as he made for the house only 10 metres away. Before he got halfway a ki blast gouged a trench in the sand in front of him and he stopped.

"I don't think so young one, this is a family reunion," rang out Raditz who'd fully descended in front of Goku.

"Who are you and why did you shoot at my child!?" demanded a now very wary and angry Goku.

"Wow, Kakkarot, you really have gone native… you don't even have a tail anymore. I assume it was removed after you first transformed." Raditz sighed slightly, dismayed at how un-Saiyan his brother was behaving and looking.

"My name is Goku and my tail never made me transform into anything!" snapped Goku hoping Gohan would be forgotten about by the stranger.

"Really? Well then, 'Goku', at around the age of eight to 10 did many people die on the night of a full moon? If so the beast that killed them was you transforming into an Ozaru," Raditz explained, forcing himself to call his brother by his human name, hoping that if he could connect with him he'd be able to avoid conflict.

"No… no, an ape beast killed my granddad Gohan… it couldn't be me…" Goku stammered, horrified by the revelation that he'd killed the person he considered his father. At first he didn't believe it but then it began to make sense when he thought about the destruction of Pilaf's castle by a beast while he was unconscious, still he was numb with shock and denial.

"I'm afraid so Kakarrot. Now I need you to join me and the last of our race against the evil overlord Frieza, who wiped out our home planet and our race," Raditz commanded, mentally and bitterly adding _"and our parents"_ to the list of atrocities committed by Frieza.

"Look, I was raised on Earth and I have a family. I love this planet and them and while I sympathise I won't leave, also how do you know who I am and why am I so important?" Goku replied slowly overcoming his shock.

"Well that is regrettable, understandable but regrettable. I know your human name as I had to fight a very aggressive green alien to get here and he told me, I know your birth name as I am your older brother. As for your importance, well, you have great potential as a fighter and personally after seeing everyone else I was connected to die, I wish to fight by the side of the last of my kin," Raditz admitted willingly.

"If we are truly related then you're welcome in my family providing you give up your notion of vengeance and remain here, as I still won't join you," Goku answered still a little amazed by all that was transpiring.

"I almost wish I could brother, unfortunately if I don't bring you with me we all die." Raditz regretfully sighed. "Right, the boy goes with me to my pod. You have a day to kill one hundred earthlings as proof of your commitment to our cause or I leave with him," Raditz declared issuing the pre-determined ultimatum whilst moving towards Gohan.

"I will never kill any humans and you will not take my son!" declared Goku, lunging for Raditz. With careful delivery Raditz swiftly kicked Goku in the gut before elbowing him sideways to the ground. As Goku gasped in pain, Raditz grabbed the sobbing child with regret and rose up.

"One day Kakarot, I'll be over the south mountain range," called Raditz. A few moments later a distraught and agony wracked Goku was roused by a very scared Bulma and severely pissed off Roshi.

"S'up guys? Where's Gohan?" Goku asked in a groggy daze.

"That piece of scum took him!" Bulma fumed as she took a senzu bean out.

"If I wasn't making sure Bulma was safe I'd have helped Goku, as insignificant as my aid would be," sighed a momentarily remorseful Roshi.

"Ohh, Chi-Chi will kill me," moaned a still disorientated Goku. "Where's Oolong?" Goku asked, suddenly worried for his old friend.

"In my hovercar on the way to South City hiding," replied Bulma darkly, while feeding Goku the bean.

Revitalised, Goku sprang up feeling stronger than before and with one thing in mind: getting his son back. "My brother will pay for this!" Goku growled, powering up.

Just then Piccolo and the human fighters arrived and a chorus of confused questioning and violent threats towards Piccolo occurred.

"QUIET!" bellowed Piccolo, his eyes glinting dangerously. "Explain Goku," Piccolo ordered as an angry silence settled.

"The short story is that my so called brother wants me to join him in some murderous revenge quest, I declined and he kidnapped Gohan. He's given me a day to kill a hundred people as proof of my loyalty and then he'll release Gohan, this isn't going to happen," Goku explained.

There was a murmur of confusion and then each human pledged to aid Goku. "This is what's happening, I need one of you to join me in taking Raditz on, the rest of you need to take all the non-fighters to the Lookout whilst you train with Mr Popo and Kami in the event that I fail," Goku uncharacteristically commanded the assembled warriors.

"I'll go with Goku," was the simultaneous response from the fighters.

"No," said Piccolo. "I have a score to settle with him and honestly I can't beat him without help even if it's from Goku."

"Well you're probably the strongest other than me here, although not by much judging from the energy I'm reading off the others." Goku decided. "I'll happily accept your help, Piccolo."

"Fine let's go," Piccolo grunted. With that, he soared off towards Raditz's ki signature.

"Tell Chi-Chi not to worry guys, and make sure Gohan doesn't leave Earth if I fail," Goku called as he departed, flashing that winning Son grin for what might be the last time.

"Stay alive, man," Krillin whispered as he turned to the others in preparation to leave.

Will Goku and Piccolo rescue Gohan or will the somewhat conflicted Raditz be pushed to take drastic action? Find out in the next instalment of DBZ: Heroes of Humanity!

Authors note:

This story would not be possible without the brilliant advice from my amazing editor Apollo1147. Also as this is my first uploaded story so any constructive criticism is more than welcome. The power level for Piccolo was done by taking his DBZ Raditz fight power level without weighted clothes and just adding 50. The same will be done for Goku.


	2. Chapter 2

As Goku and Piccolo were on route to Raditz's location they kept a grim silence, until curiosity got the better of Goku. "Why are helping against my brother? I thought you hated me," Goku asked puzzled by his old foe's uncharacteristic aid.

"Oh, I do hate you, more than you'll ever know. However, I hate Raditz nearly as much and he's going to deprive me of two things if he remains on Earth. One: my revenge on you if he kills you or kidnaps you and two: My chance to conquer the Earth if he returns," Piccolo sneered back.

"Well at least I don't have to worry about you redeeming yourself; I'd miss my yearly ritual of beating you and domination attempts," teased Goku.

'_If I get the chance I'll kill you and _Raditz,' Piccolo thought furiously.

Satisfied with Piccolo's answer Goku became silent again as Raditz's craft came into faint view.

"This is ridiculous! You heard Goku we're nearly as strong as him yet he expects us to stay on the lookout babysitting and training with Mr Popo and Kami, who no offense to them we've far outmatched and can't train with further," sulked Yamcha, pacing the floor of the Lookout's dining area.

"It's not ideal, Yamcha but we have to trust him," was as the calm response from Tien.

"Besides Goku's right some of us have to guard our friends," reasoned Chaiotzu.

"Yeah some of us gave to, not all of us... I'm going down there to help Goku, I don't trust Piccolo to help Goku at all," Krillin stated, already hovering a few inches in preparation for take-off.

"How come you get to go? And what do we do if you, Goku and Piccolo die?' asked Yamcha, slightly disgruntled at being side-lined.

"I get to go as Piccolo has never seen my true power and would be taken by surprise by it, giving me the best chance to take him down should he turn on Goku during or after the fight with Raditz, also you, Tien, Chaiotzu and Roshi are more than strong enough together to take of Raditz," explained Krillin.

"Fine," Yamcha moodily replied. Tien and Chaiotzu merely nodded and started training. With that Krilling took off and rushed towards Raditz's ki signature.

'_I'm coming buddy hold on,_' Krillin thought nervously.

Raditz was in the crater his space craft had created, trying to reason with an increasingly frantic Gohan…

"Gohan, is it? Please stop crying, I have no intention of hurting you or your father, if anything I'd rather just leave, but I can't without your father's allegiance," reasoned an increasingly uncomfortable Raditz who was trying to quieten Gohan's crying.

Gohan began to stop crying as hard as he had been but retained a miserable sniffle which quickly grated on Raditz's nerves. "Ok, would you like me to show you a trick? It'll cheer you up," offered Raditz.

"Okay," was Gohan's nervous but calmer than before reply.

"Here it goes; I call this 'The Double Sunday Display', "stated Raditz as he generated two small, weak and yellow ki orbs in both hands and then merged his hands, before firing the combined blast upwards. The result was a series of brilliant orange and yellow explosions that looked like incredible fireworks. Mesmerised by this Gohan relaxed a little and stopped crying, he looked at Raditz unsure what to say so went with his first thought.

"Wow that was cool, can you please teach me that one day? Um, Uncle Raditz."

Raditz smiled at this. '_The kids not too bad. Gotta say, it makes me think more and more that Kakarott got the better deal_.'

"Sure kid, one day soon hopefully," smiled Raditz lightly patting Gohan's shoulder amazed the boy didn't flinch. 'I h_ate Vegeta for forcing me into this life of petty conquest and errand taking. I'm a Saiyan warrior and he doesn't trust me to do this one thing, despite my decades of total loyalty, monitoring me via the scouter is an insult. I'm sick of being his glorified servant, Kakarott is my brother, I should handle this my way not Vegeta's,_' fumed a resentful Raditz. This inner reflection was broken by a shout from behind him.

"Get away from my son!" Goku roared at Raditz as he was powering up, while Piccolo was silently powering up and glaring at the newest Saiyan.

"Gohan, get in the pod it'll keep you safe," ordered Raditz. The boy was reluctant but did as he was told.

"I don't know why Gohan did what you told him, but I sure as hell won't, no humans are dead by my hand and I'm about to deport you back into space," barked Goku who had finished powering up.

"You're making this harder than it needs to be Goku, now I have to drag you along," sighed Raditz, cursing the interface system in his scouter that kept his Prince informed of his actions.

Pressing the scaning option on his scouter, Raditz turned to Piccolo and was surprised by the readout. "500, 505, 510." Then Piccolo removed his weighted turban and his power level further increased. "522!" Exclaimed a surprised Raditz, slightly disturbed by how the Namekian was now only 78 units away from half of Raditz's power.

Turning to Goku his scouter reading was even more impressive. "503, 508, 513" then when the weighted boots came off Goku there was another increase.

"525!" Raditz shouted, now worried about the possibility of fighting a third member of Earth's warriors, his scouter detected none nearby and so his cocky facade returned.

"Yes, Raditz, and this is only the beginning," warned Goku as Piccolo charged a destructive wave blast and fired toward Raditz.

'U_ff, not too strong but (I) can't afford to get hit just in case I get worn down,_' thought Raditz, firing a ki blast which hit Piccolo's signature move, detonating it.

Blinded by smoke Raditz turned only to receive a staggering blow to the chin from Goku, who took advantage of Raditz's unsteady daze to roundhouse kick Raditz into an energy beam fired by Piccolo. The beam carried Raditz into a set of rocks and then detonated.

'_That hurt. That really, really hurt, no way that attack was 500 power units, unless they can charge attacks... oh shit,_' Raditz thought, realising that Piccolo and Goku were deadlier than he'd given them credit for.

'_Well, I'm going to be very sore tomorrow and the chest armour is pretty dented but I'm in decent shape. Payback time_.' Raditz assessed whilst picking himself off, all the while feeling his rage build.

"He's barely hurt!" shouted a dismayed Goku.

"Yeah we're going to have to try and wear him down," Piccolo reasoned.

"This is your final chance Kakarott, join me now or I kill you, the Namekian and take Gohan," Raditz offered, angered at the fact he couldn't negotiate due to Vegeta's constant watch.

"If you kill us, Earth's other warriors will finish you so it's not much of a threat," sneered Piccolo.

"You're no brother of mine," Goku angrily stated.

"Very well." Raditz groaned, rushing towards Goku, fist pulled back.

"No, not going to work," grinned Piccolo as he stretched his arms to grab and slam Raditz.

It worked, however Raditz grabbed an arm just afterwards and drew Piccolo in.

"Big mistake, Namekian!" Raditz roared as he hammered Piccolo in the face with his free hand. Raditz grinned as he felt one of Piccolo's cheekbones break.

Stunned with pain Piccolo was momentarily defenceless, capitalising on this Raditz kicked him repeatedly in the stomach and then threw a haymaker which sent Piccolo flying into several trees which toppled onto him.

Grinning at his victory, Raditz paused to catch his breath not worried about Goku. '_My brother is probably ready to surrender after seeing that__(,)__' _ Raditz thought.

Just then his scouter beeped, a power level flashed on his display. It read 950 and rising! Turning around he saw Goku facing him with his palms joined on an angle and a blue energy sphere growing between them.

"Kame-Hame-Ha!" bellowed Goku, firing his fully charged attack.

Raditz had no time to dodge or charge an interception beam and so opted to try and block the attack, by raising his arms over his torso and face. The beam collided with him and started to surge around the sides of Raditz until his guard gave out and the majority of the beam hit him full on. Raditz was slammed backwards by the beam and became engulfed in it.

Confident that Raditz was either unconscious or dead, Goku made for Raditz's ship in order to free Gohan. Just as he got his hands on the ship door he heard a rage filled and horrifying voice.

"I don't think so Kakarott!" raged a positively livid Raditz.

His chest armour was crumpled, he was missing a shoulder guard and had burns and cuts all over his body, but the thing that most stood out was the crazed snarl his face had become.

"Double Sunday!" bellowed Raditz, launching a rapidly charged yellow beam at Goku.

Unable to dodge as the beam would hit Gohan, Goku fired a small version of the Kamehameha to deflect the beams trajectory; the result was less than desired. Raditz's attack shifted slightly to the left after Goku's beam hit it, and caught Goku square in the chest. Goku vanished within the blast whilst Raditz glanced around to find Piccolo, not realising he was above him. Piccolo savagely kicked Raditz in the head in a downward motion and as he was caught off guard, Raditz was momentarily stunned. This allowed Piccolo to let loose with a flurry of punches and kicks.

Goku, meanwhile, was slowly getting up and trying to prepare to re-join the fight.

However, Goku's recovery wasn't fast enough to prevent Raditz from regaining his focus. Angered beyond belief Raditz grabbed Piccolo's oncoming fist and pressured it to breaking point, this made Piccolo pause his assault for a moment as the pain was immense.

"I warned you earlier," exploded Raditz, kicking Piccolo in the chest until he heard a satisfying snap of ribs, then he push kicked Piccolo's knee snapping it. He would have ended Piccolo's life with a ki blast had a ki enhanced fist not connected with the side of his skull. Reeling and agonised Raditz staggered away from Piccolo.

"That should hold him for a few seconds, you going to be ok, Piccolo?" Goku called as he began to gather energy at the end of his fingers, which were in the shape of a gun.

"I'll live," Piccolo grunted as he snapped his bones back and positioned his ribs. His Namekian physiology healing him rapidly.

"I will rip you apart! You've disgraced the memory of our parents!" raged Raditz, speeding toward Goku, his fists glowing with Ki.

'_Now or never,_' thought Goku as he fired a deceptively weak Dodon Ray at Raditz.

Raditz fired a blast from his left arm, neutralising Goku's beam. However when he fired another it was intercepted by a Masenko from Piccolo. Undeterred Raditz sent a ki beam straight into Piccolo hurling him into the distance and ploughed on intending to smash into Goku, however he went straight through him. Literally.

"What the fu..." Raditz started before being kicked in small of his back by Goku.

"Afterimage technique, what you see is not always what you get," Goku said as he continued his surprise assault.

Raditz's defence was vicious and within ten seconds he was counter-striking accurately, causing significantly more damage than Goku was. Gaining the upper hand, Raditz lashed out with a wild knee strike and caught Goku making him double over, defenceless.

'_I'm sorry I couldn't protect you Gohan,_' Goku thought, preparing for the death blow Raditz was about to deliver.

Seconds passed and Goku was untouched.

'_Why I am I not dead_?' Goku thought. He looked blearily towards Raditz and saw something that jerked him back to life... his son had rocketed out of the ship and smashed Raditz head on in the chest. Raditz momentarily went down and Gohan collapsed exhausted.

'_I have to get Gohan out of here_!' Goku screamed inwardly, forcing himself up and toward Gohan. He called his flying nimbus cloud and placed Gohan on it, giving the cloud the instruction to go to the Lookout.

Relived that his son would be safe he turned his attention to Piccolo who had wearily flown back and had reengaged a now conscious Raditz.

'_Oh Kami, he's getting pounded_.' At that moment a sickening crunch was heard as Raditz broke Piccolo's left collarbone with a ki augmented punch. _'Gotta help him, it's all down to this_.' Goku thought determinedly as he streaked back into the fight his limbs blurring as he struck at Raditz.

'_Good, now I can heal,'_ Piccolo thought, as he popped his bone into place and waited a few agonising seconds for it to refuse. _'That hurt. Raditz must have a weakness, we just need to keep hitting him__until we find it, if we can keep fighting that long. We're in a worse shape than Raditz right now, maybe it's time I used my last resort,_' Piccolo mused, as he rushed in to aid Goku.

Piccolo and Goku attacked Raditz simultaneously, the invading Saiyan struggling to fend the warriors off as they worked as a team. Even though they were more evenly matched, the duo began to weaken and Raditz clawed back his upper hand as he defended more attacks and landed increasingly powerful hits on his brother and the Namekian. As Raditz landed a side kick on Piccolo, Goku landed a lucky hit on Raditz's tail, making him freeze in pain as his tail uncoiled.

"Gah!" Raditz gasped overcome with pain.

"Goku, his tail is his weak spot. Grab it!" Piccolo shouted as he put two fingers to his head and charged ki.

"Ok, but what do I do when I grab it?" Goku asked as he ducked under a kick from Raditz.

"Hold him until I finish charging this beam and then move from him quick, when I fire!"Piccolo snarled, trying to concentrate.

"How long have I gotta hold him? " Goku wheezed out between blows from Raditz.

"A couple of minutes," Piccolo replied.

"As Goku successfully grabbed his tail, Raditz completely froze and began to struggle in order to get remove from Goku's grasp.

"Why do you continue to fight me? We could all die for the sake of your ideals," Raditz growled, ceasing his futile struggle.

"If I die the dragon balls will be used to wish me back, so honestly, it's a small price to pay in order to stop you," Goku explained.

"You can resurrect people?!" Raditz exclaimed in shock.

"With the Dragon balls I can do anything," Goku boasted in order to unnerve Raditz.

A beep rang out from Raditz's scouter signalling Vegeta's incoming broadcast. "So, artificats that can grant any wish... how very useful. See you in a year Raditz, if they don't kill you before I do," Vegeta drawled over the scouter before he disconnected.

'_Oh no, if Vegeta uses these dragon balls he'll wish for immortality and then kill me as I'd be surplus to requirements,_' Raditz panicked.

"Kakarott, my superior, Prince Vegeta has been observing me the whole time and has orchestrated everything. He knows about the Dragon balls and wants to use them to gain immortality, he'll kill all us all for sport if this happens. Please let me go and together maybe we'll be able to beat him when he arrives," Raditz pleaded.

"I don't believe you'd help us, I have no reason to trust you," Goku retorted, enraged at what he viewed as his brother's vain attempt to save trick him.

"I swear to you, I am not lying," Raditz said, losing hope.

"It's done Goku, move!" Piccolo shouted firing his new move, the Special Beam Cannon.

"We aren't done talking about this brother!" Raditz screamed, grabbing Goku's head in one last effort, pinning him in place. The beam went straight towards them and bored through Raditz and then Goku.

'_I will make you see sense and you will bring me back to kill that traitor Vegeta,_' Raditz thought in his last breath.

'_The Earth and Gohan are safe now, my job's done,_' was Goku's last thought before his vision was enveloped with light.

A mere minute before Krillin was had just entered visual range of Raditz's ship and could faintly see Goku and Raditz struggling.

'_Hold on a minute more, buddy,'_ Krillin thought as he sped towards the fight. As he got closer to the fight he saw Piccolo fire his beam and froze, horrified, as it tore through Raditz and Goku.

"GOKU!" Krilling exploded in grief and fury.

'_Piccolo did this; I'll tear him apart for this_.' Revenge was the one thing burning through Krillin's mind as he landed and strode, aura blazing, towards Piccolo. As he was got closer he saw an incredibly wounded and exhausted Piccolo hobble towards Goku and check his pulse. A confused Krillin stopped from firing his prepared Kame-hame-ha at Piccolo.

"Why are you bothering to check if he's alive?" Krillin demanded from Piccolo.

"I'm more wrecked than I thought, I didn't even sense you were here. I didn't plan to kill Goku, I wanted to fight him fairly, not kill him inadvertently like this. He chose to hold Raditz and to die honourably. He was admittedly a noble man and deserved a fitting death, not this. Also, more importantly, I owe him my life from early on in the fight" Piccolo explained too tired to fully care if Krillin believed him.

"Luckily for you I believe that. Now what do we do?" Krillin asked.

"Well firstly we need to take Goku's body to the lookout, then you need to break the news to the rest of the humans, also I need to heal. There are more pressing matters though... Raditz warned of an alleged group of fellow Saiyans who now know of the Dragon Balls and intend to take them by force. Obviously we need to prevent this. I suggest you and the other humans train with Kami and find out if the Saiyans are coming. I will train Goku's son, his potential is greater than all of us combined," Piccolo reasoned.

"Gohan's a kid, how strong can he be?!" an incredulous Krillin asked.

"He floored Raditz with one blow when angered," Piccolo simply stated.

"ChiChi will not be happy about this, it'll take some serious convincing, although if these Saiyans are coming then I guess we'll have no choice but to train him. I reckon you're probably the best equipped to drag his anger out and teach him to use it, although I and Yamcha will be probably be keeping tabs on you on ChiChi's behalf so don't be too harsh or you'll regret it. Pfft training with Kami is pointless, each of us 'humans' as you kindly call us surpassed him nearly two years ago. I have an idea regarding training though so don't worry," Krillin replied.

"Intriguing, explain more later. Right now we need to go," Piccolo said as he slowly hovered towards the Lookout.

Picking up Goku, Krillin's grief was eased very slightly at the thought of soon seeing his old friend again. Then he scowled when he'd noticed Raditz's body.

"What do we do with that thing's body?" Krillin asked Piccolo, tempted to leave it for the animals.

"Blast it to ash," Piccolo darkly called out.

"With pleasure," Krillin grimaced, whilst firing a wide blast from his eyes at Raditz, incinerating him.

Piccolo and Krillin slowly flew towards the Lookout, dejected and unsure of the future.

Elsewhere, in an old ruin a meditating old woman snapped out from her trance.

"Raditz must return," she wheezed.

What is this new training plan that Krillin has? What's happened to Goku and Raditz? And who is this old, mysterious woman and what are her intentions?

Find out in the next exciting instalment of DBZ: Heroes of Humanity!

Thanks for the follows and reviews everyone, please continue to give feedback any is welcome.

Also once again a big thank you to my editor Apollo1147 whose continued support and advice has helped me improve my writing style and the quality of the piece immensely.


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